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3 clusters · 14 sources · 5 days · First seen · Last updated

New York cryptocurrency fraud litigation

Overview

New York Attorney General Letitia James has taken legal action against promoters and founders of cryptocurrency investment schemes, specifically NovaTechFx and AWS Mining Pty Ltd., which authorities describe as pyramid schemes. These schemes targeted immigrant and religious communities, resulting in significant losses for hundreds of thousands of investors globally and over 11,000 residents in New York.

Initial legal developments resulted in nearly $6 million in combined settlements from four promoters—Martin Zizi, Frantz Ciceron, Ricardo Roy Sr., and James Corbett. These individuals have been permanently barred from the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industries.

Following a default judgment in August 2025, the Attorney General is seeking approximately $1.37 billion from NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion. This figure includes $1.13 billion in disgorgement and $232.5 million in prejudgment interest. Investigators found that of the total funds deposited, only about $26 million ever reached a trading platform, and much of that was subsequently lost. While the Petions fled the United States in 2022, Cynthia Petion is reportedly located in Panama. The state alleges the Petions used religious messaging and promises of high weekly returns via WhatsApp and prayer groups to target the Haitian diaspora.

Recent filings detail that between August 2019 and May 2023, investors deposited roughly $1.16 billion in cryptocurrency into NovaTech-linked wallets. Although the platform promised weekly returns of 2% to 4%, investigators allege the scheme used new investor deposits to fund recruitment bonuses and payouts.

Entities

Letitia James · Eddy Petion · Cynthia Petion · NOVATECH · New York Attorney General's Office

Timeline

  1. [BUSINESS] 2 sources
    New York seeks $1.37 billion in NovaTech crypto fraud case

    New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $1.37 billion from NovaTech founders for an alleged crypto scheme that defrauded hundreds of thousands of global investors.

  2. [CRIME] 10 sources
    New York Attorney General seeks $1.37 billion from NovaTech founders

    New York AG Letitia James is seeking $1.37 billion from NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion following a default judgment regarding a massive cryptocurrency pyramid scheme.

  3. [CRIME] 2 sources
    New York recovers $6 million from cryptocurrency scammers

    New York Attorney General Letitia James secured nearly $6 million in settlements from four cryptocurrency promoters who targeted Haitian and immigrant communities with fraudulent pyramid schemes.

Sources

bitcoinmagazine.com · blockchainreporter.net · crypto.news · cryptopolitan.com · europesays.com · haitiantimes.com · news.trijo.co · newsbit.nl · newsbtc.com · revistaprevenir.com.br · techi.com · theroot.com · unchainedcrypto.com · uticaphoenix.net

This summary has been updated 2 times: see revision history